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DECISION No. 18/2003/QD-BXD OF JUNE 27, 2003 PROMULGATING THE REGULATION ON QUALITY CONTROL OF CONSTRUCTION WORKS

THE MINISTER OF CONSTRUCTION

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 36/2003/ND-CP of April 4, 2003 defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Construction;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 52/1999/ND-CP of July 8, 1999 promulgating the Regulation on Investment and Construction Management and Decree No. 12/2000/ND-CP of May 5, 2000 and Decree No. 07/2003/ND-CP of January 30, 2003 amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Regulation on Investment and Construction Management issued together with the Government's Decree No. 52/1999/ND-CP of July 8, 1999;

At the proposals of the director of the Department for State Expertise of Construction Work Quality and the director of the Legal Department,

DECIDES:

Article 1.- To promulgate together with this Decision the Regulation on Quality Control of Construction Works, which replaces the Regulation on Quality Control of Construction Works issued together with the Construction Minister's Decision No. 17/2000/QD-BXD of August 2, 2000.

Article 2.- This Decision shall be uniformly implemented nationwide and take effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette.

Article 3.- The ministers, the heads of the ministerial-level agencies, agencies attached to the Government, financial management agencies of the Party Central Committee and the central bodies of political and socio-political organizations, the presidents of the People's Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities, the concerned enterprises, investors, organizations and individuals shall have to implement this Decision.

Minister of Construction
NGUYEN HONG QUAN

REGULATION ON QUALITY CONTROL OF CONSTRUCTION WORKS

(Promulgated together with the Construction Minister's Decision No. 18/2003/QD-BXD of June 27, 2003)

Chapter 1

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1.- Objects and scope of regulation

This document provides for the contents of quality control by organizations and individuals engaged in investment and construction consultancy, construction enterprises, management units of construction investment projects, investors and concerned State management bodies in the survey, designing, construction and installation, pre-acceptance test and hand-over of works, construction and installation warranty, maintenance of works of new construction projects (including construction of support works, make-shift works and works in service of construction commencement), renovation, repair and upgrading regardless of their capital sources and ownership forms

Article 2.- Interpretation of terms

In this Regulation, the following terms are construed as follows:

1. Construction work quality means the requirements on the safety, durability, techniques and aesthetic view of works in conformity with the construction standards and criteria, the provisions in relevant legal documents and construction contracts.

2. Construction survey means activities of investigating, measuring and drawing, probing, collecting, analyzing and synthesizing documents and data on the natural conditions of the construction areas and sites in service of designing.

3. Preliminary design means the documents demonstrated in the expositions and drawings on the planning, architecture, structure and lay-out of the technological and technical systems, concretizing the elements stated in the principal contents of the feasibility study reports. The preliminary designs shall be approved together with the feasibility study reports, serving as a basis for elaboration, evaluation and approval of engineering designs or construction-engineering designs.

4. Engineering design (deployment design) means the documents demonstrated in the expositions and drawings which are developed on the basis of the preliminary designs approved together with the feasibility study reports. The engineering design dossiers must ensure all conditions for the elaboration of total cost estimates, bidding dossiers as well as the elaboration of construction drawings.

5. Construction-drawing design (detailed design) means the documents demonstrated in drawings made on the basis of the approved engineering designs. The construction-drawing design dossiers must demonstrate the architectural details, structural details, technical systems of the works (power supply, water drainage and supply, gas supply, air-conditioning...) and technologies so that the construction enterprises can proceed with the construction.

6. Design verification means the re-examination by the construction-consulting organizations at the requests of the investors of the work designs made by other designing-consulting organizations.

7. Design expertise means the job done by persons competent to inspect the capability conditions of consulting organizations and designing individuals, check the legality of engineering design or construction-engineering design dossiers, to check the compatibility between the contents of the engineering design dossiers and the preliminary designs as well as the approved contents of the investment decisions, and assess the rationality of design solutions, which shall serve as a basis for the approval of engineering designs.

8. Authorship supervision means the job of inspecting, explaining or handling problems or changes arising at the sites by the consulting organizations, which have made the engineering designs, at the construction sites in the construction process, aiming to ensure the construction comply with the designs and protect the designer's authorship.

9. Construction and installation supervision by the investors means the regular and constant activities carried out in a systematic manner at the construction sites by the investors in order to manage the volumes, quality and progress of the construction and installation jobs done by the construction enterprises according to the construction contracts and the approved construction-drawing or construction-engineering designs as well as the applied construction standards and criteria.

10. Inspection of construction and installation quality means activities carried out by the consulting organizations to check, test and/or quantify one or several properties of construction products or works, and compare them with the design requirements and the applied construction criteria.

11. Expertise of construction work quality means activities carried out by agencies with the function of State management over the quality of construction works on the basis of the construction standards and applied technical standards, legal documents and quality inspection results so as to make evaluation and conclusion on the quality of construction products or works.

12. Construction completion drawings mean the drawings showing the results of construction and installation and made by the construction enterprises on the basis of the approved construction-drawing or construction-engineering designs and the results of measurement and testing of the construction and installation products executed at the construction sites, which have been certified by the investors.

13. Work warranty means the repair of construction damage occurring in the warranty duration by the construction enterprises which have constructed the works.

14. Work maintenance means the regular maintenance, minor, medium and major repair by the owners or use managers of the works in order to ensure that the works be used or operated safely according to the operation procedures prescribed by the designers and manufacturers.

Article 3.- Decentralization of responsibility for quality control of construction works

1. The Ministry of Construction:

To perform the unified State management over the quality of construction works nationwide, having the responsibilities:

a/ To promulgate legal documents on quality control in the survey, designing, construction and installation, pre-acceptance test and hand-over of works, construction and installation warranty and work maintenance; agree to let the ministries with specialized construction works and the ministries in charge of specialized technical branches promulgate regulations on quality control of specialized construction works and control of specialized technical quality of works;

b/ To guide and inspect the implementation of legal documents on quality control of construction works;

c/ To regularly or irregularly inspect the quality control of construction works by the investors, designing-consulting organizations and construction enterprises, for works of group-A projects. To directly organize, when necessary, the inspection of the quality of works nationwide;

d/ To organize, and take responsibility for, the expertise of the quality of construction works under the decentralization by the Government;

e/ To biannually and annually sum up and report to the Prime Minister on the construction work quality as prescribed.

The Department for State Expertise of Construction Work Quality, the Department for Construction Survey and Design and the concerned units under the Ministry of Construction shall assist the Minister of Construction in discharging the above responsibilities.

2. The provincial-level People's Committees:

a/ The provincial-level People's Committees shall perform the unified State management over the quality of construction works in their respective localities, having the responsibilities:

- To guide and inspect the implementation of legal documents on quality control of construction works in their respective localities.

- To regularly or irregularly inspect the quality control of construction works by the investors, designing consultants and construction enterprises for works of group-B and -C investment projects under the local management. To directly organize, when necessary, the inspection of the quality of works in the localities.

- To handle violations related to the construction work quality and expertise incidents occurring to construction works in the localities according to the responsibility decentralization in Article 25 of this Regulation.

- To biannually sum up and report to the Ministry of Construction on the quality of construction works under the local management.

- To decentralize the State management over the quality of construction works of projects in which the district-level or commune-level People's Committees have decided on the investment.

The provincial/municipal Construction Services shall assist the provincial-level People's Committees in discharging the above-said responsibilities.

Depending on the nature of the projects, the provincial/municipal People's Committees shall assign the provincial/municipal Construction Services or the provincial/municipal Services with specialized construction works to expertise the engineering designs and total cost estimates of the locally-managed construction works; guide and inspect the expertise of engineering designs and total cost estimates of construction works according to the regulations on the management of investment and construction in their localities;

b/ The provincial/municipal Services with specialized construction works shall be tasked to perform the branch management over the quality of specialized construction works in the localities, having the responsibilities:

- To guide and inspect the implementation of legal documents on quality control of specialized construction works in their localities.

- To regularly or irregularly inspect the quality control of specialized construction works by the investors, designing-consulting organizations and construction enterprises, for specialized works of group-B and -C investment projects directly managed by the localities. To directly organize, when necessary, the inspection of the quality of specialized construction works in the localities.

- To propose the handling of violations related to the quality of specialized construction works; coordinate with the provincial/municipal Construction Services in dealing with incidents occurring to specialized construction works under the local management.

- To send biannual reports (made according to a set form) on the quality of specialized construction works under their respective management to the provincial/municipal Construction Services for summing up and reporting to the provincial-level People's Committees and the Ministry of Construction.

3. The ministries with specialized construction works, including the Ministry of Communications and Transport, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, shall have the responsibilities:

a/ To promulgate regulations on quality control of specialized construction works after consulting with the Ministry of Construction.

b/ To guide and inspect the implementation of the regulations on quality control of specialized construction works under their respective management nationwide.

c/ To evaluate and approve the engineering designs and total cost estimates of specialized construction works according to the responsibility decentralization by the Government; to guide and inspect the evaluation of the engineering designs and total cost estimates of specialized construction works according to the regulations on investment and construction management with regard to specialized works under their respective management;

d/ To regularly or irregularly inspect the quality control of specialized construction works under their respective management by the investors, design consultants and construction enterprises. When necessary, to directly inspect the quality of specialized construction works under their respective management. To propose the handling of violations regarding the quality of construction works. Particularly for works of group-A projects, the performance of the above tasks requires the coordination with the Ministry of Construction.

e/ To send biannual reports (made according to a set form) on the quality of specialized construction works to the Ministry of Construction so that the latter can sum up and report the situation to the Prime Minister.

4. The specialized technical ministries, including the ministries and the ministerial-level agencies having the function of State management over specialized techniques such as those applied in fire and explosion prevention and fight; environmental safety; labor safety; industrial safety, dyke safety; traffic safety; post; security and national defense, shall have the responsibilities:

a/ To promulgate regulations on the quality control of specialized techniques in construction works after consulting with the Ministry of Construction.

b/ To guide and inspect the implementation of the regulations on the quality control of specialized techniques in construction works nationwide.

c/ To join the agencies with the function of State management over the quality of construction works (according to the responsibility decentralization in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article) in inspecting the quality of such specialized technical works as fire and explosion prevention and fight; environmental safety; labor safety; industrial safety; dyke safety; traffic safety; and post, for each type of work with such requirements.

5. The ministries, the ministerial-level agencies, the agencies attached to the Government, the financial management agencies of the Party Central Committee, central bodies of the political and socio-political organizations (determined in the State Budget Law) which have investment projects and are allocated capital for management of investment and construction of works under the approved projects (referred to as the ministries with projects), shall have the responsibilities:

a/ To organize the implementation of the regulations on the quality control of construction works under their respective management through either their own functional agencies or qualified project management units as prescribed by law.

b/ To evaluate and approve the engineering designs and total cost estimates of construction works according to the responsibility decentralization by the Government; to guide and inspect the evaluation of the engineering designs and total cost estimates of construction works according to the regulations on investment and construction management with regard to works under their respective management;

c/ To coordinate with the Ministry of Construction in inspecting the quality control of construction works by the investors, designing-consulting organizations and construction enterprises; to inspect, detect, and propose the handling of, violations regarding the quality of construction works under their respective management and concurrently notify such to the concerned provincial/municipal Construction Services and the Services with specialized construction works in the localities for coordination.

d/ To send biannual reports on the quality of construction works to the Ministry of Construction so that the latter can sum up and report the situation to the Prime Minister.

Article 4.- Responsibilities of investors, construction-consulting organizations and construction enterprises for construction work quality

1. For the investors:

a/ To take full responsibility for the quality of construction works of the projects under their management.

b/ To comply with the provisions in Article 14, Clause 1 of Article 46 of the Regulation on Investment and Construction Management, promulgated together with the Government's Decree No. 52/1999/ND-CP of July 8, 1999, and the relevant contents of this Regulation.

c/ To sign construction contracts only with investment- and construction- consulting organizations and construction enterprises which satisfy the prescribed construction capability conditions.

d/ To hire consulting organizations to supervise the construction and installation when the investors fail to satisfy the prescribed capability conditions.

e/ To send biannual reports (made according to a set form) on the works' quality to the agencies with the function of State management over the construction work quality (according to the responsibility decentralization in Article 3 of this Regulation).

2. For surveying and designing organizations and individuals:

a/ To take responsibility before law and the investors for the contents committed in the contracts, including the quantity, quality, implementation schedule, accuracy of products and the quality of their surveying or designing products;

b/ To implement the provisions in Article 15 and Clause 2, Article 46 of the Investment and Construction Management Regulation promulgated together with the Government's Decree No. 52/1999/ND-CP of July 8, 1999, Clause 8, Article 1 of the Government's Decree No. 07/2003/ND-CP of January 30, 2003 and the relevant contents of this Regulation.

3. For construction enterprises:

a/ To take responsibility before law for the quality and safety of the works under construction and installation as well as the safety of adjacent works.

b/ To comply with the provisions in Article 16, Clause 3, Article 46 of the Investment and Construction Management Regulation promulgated together with the Government's Decree No. 52/1999/ND-CP of July 8, 1999, Clause 9, Article 1 of the Government's Decree No. 07/2003/ND-CP of January 30, 2003 and the relevant contents of this Regulation.

4. The State encourages the application of the quality control model based on the standard TCVN ISO 9000:2000.

Chapter 2

QUALITY CONTROL OF CONSTRUCTION SURVEYS AND CONSTRUCTION WORK DESIGNS

Article 5.- Construction surveys

1. Construction works shall be subject to construction surveys at the construction sites.

2. Construction surveys must be conducted in conformity with the technical criteria for surveys and the surveying tasks approved by the investors. The survey technique plan must be suitable to each designing stage (preliminary design, engineering design or construction-engineering design), the works' characteristics (reflected in the construction surveys' technical requirements) as well as the natural conditions of the planned construction sites. The construction survey dossiers must be determined strictly according to the construction locations, reflecting truthfully the actual conditions of the construction grounds, natural terrain, the works' geology and hydro-meteorological and environmental conditions; be compatible with the construction standards and the applied technical standards. The construction survey results must be evaluated, tested before acceptance and recorded in writing by the investors.

3. The construction-surveying organizations shall have to coordinate with the investors in settling problems arising in the construction surveying process so as to ensure the quality of the construction survey dossiers, the accuracy and reliability of data used in service of the designing work.

4. Reports on the construction survey results:

a/ A construction survey report contains the following principal contents:

- Survey grounds and methods;

- Data synthesis and analysis, evaluation of survey results;

- Conclusions on the survey results and recommendations.

b/ The construction survey reports must satisfy the requirements of the survey tasks suitable to the corresponding designing steps, recommendations on the treatment of construction works' foundations, and the rational use of natural resources and the protection of the surrounding environment, which the designing consulting organizations, construction enterprises and investors should bear in mind when designing, constructing and using the works.

c/ The reports on construction survey results must be made in six sets, examined and tested before acceptance by the investors under Article 7 of this Regulation, and shall serve as a legal ground for designing.

5. The investors shall consider and decide on additional surveys at the proposal of the designing-consulting organizations.

Article 6.- Work construction designing

1. Construction works must have designs expressed in drawings according to regulations.

2. A work shall be designed in three steps: preliminary design, engineering design and construction drawing design. For works with simple techniques or model designs, involving simple treatment of foundations, they shall be designed in two steps: preliminary design and construction-engineering design.

The contents of the designing steps are prescribed in Appendix 1 to this Regulation (not printed herein).

3. Design products must conform to the construction standards and applied technical standards, the designing tasks and the designing contracts.

4. Design products must be evaluated and tested before acceptance by the investors under Article 7 of this Regulation.

5. Designing-consulting organizations must not designate the manufacturers and suppliers of assorted materials or technical supplies.

6. Design blueprints shall be implemented only when the design managers and chief designers have the full capability as prescribed by the Ministry of Construction. The design managers and chief designers shall take personal responsibility for the quality of their products.

7. The designing-consulting organizations must have the designing product quality control systems to control the quality of designing products

8. The consulting organizations which have made engineering designs or construction-engineering designs must conduct the authorship supervision in the construction and installation process under Article 17 of this Regulation.

9. The consulting organizations which design specialized construction works shall, apart from complying with the provisions in the above clauses of this Article, have to strictly observe the provisions on the contents of design products of specialized construction works.

10. The designing-consulting organizations must not subcontract to other designing-consulting organizations the whole or major parts of the contents of their contracts.

Article 7.- Pre-acceptance test of construction survey and designing products

1. The pre-acceptance test of construction survey products (the reports on construction survey results), designing products (design dossiers) shall be conducted on the basis of the following documents:

a/ The construction survey or designing contract.

b/ The construction surveying or designing tasks.

c/ Construction standards and applied technical standards.

d/ The report on the design evaluation result of the consulting organization which has evaluated the design (if any).

2. The pre-acceptance test results must be made in records according to the set forms

3. The records on the pre-acceptance tests of construction survey products or designing products must clearly state all errors (if any), the time limit for correction, and the request for supplementation and correction of the construction survey reports or design dossiers, and also the conclusions on the construction survey or design quality.

4. The records on the pre-acceptance tests of construction survey products or designing products shall constitute part of the dossiers submitted for evaluation and approval of the corresponding designing steps.

Article 8.- Verification of engineering designs

1. The investors must hire consulting organizations which are not directly involved in the designing to verify the engineering designs of the works of the projects on oil and gas, chemicals, bridges, seaports, river ports, dykes, dams, reservoirs, high-rise buildings, schools, hospitals, competition halls, stadium stands, cinemas, theaters, and public works for mass gatherings, works prone to disastrous incidents. For works of other projects, the investors shall make decisions by themselves on the verification.

2. The contents of verification of engineering designs shall focus on the safety of works and other contents requested by the investors.

3. The approved drawings must have the signatures and certification stamps of the representatives of the consulting organizations which have verified the designs. The model of the seal of design verification approval is prescribed in Appendix 25 to this Regulation (not printed herein).

4. The verification of engineering designs shall not mitigate the responsibility of the designing contractors.

5. Where the design verification detects no substantial errors which may force the designing organizations to re-make the engineering designs, the investors shall bear verification expenses. Where the design verification detects substantial errors which force the designing organizations to re-make the engineering designs, the designing-consulting organizations shall bear these verification expenses.

Article 9.- Dossiers submitted for evaluation and approval of engineering designs or construction-engineering designs

A dossier on engineering design submitted by the investor for evaluation and approval includes:

1. A report requesting for evaluation and approval of the engineering design, made according to a set form;

2. A copy of the decision approving the investment project, enclosed with the preliminary design dossier already approved together with the project;

3. The report on the construction survey results, with the full contents stated in Clause 2, Article 5 of this Regulation;

4. The dossier of the engineering design or construction-engineering design , made according to a set form;

5. The report on the design verification result, for works of the projects specified in Clause 1, Article 8 of this Regulation;

6. The written record on the pre-acceptance test of the construction survey or design products, made according to a set form;

7. Written approvals of the competent State management bodies of the environmental safety, fire and explosion prevention and fight, dyke safety, traffic safety and relevant requirements.

Article 10.- Expertise of engineering designs or construction-engineering designs

1. Contents of the expertise of engineering designs or construction-engineering designs:

a/ The construction activity capability conditions of the consulting organizations or individuals that have made the designs.

b/ The compatibility of the engineering designs or construction-engineering designs with the preliminary designs of the contents of the feasibility reports already approved regarding the planning, architecture, construction scope, technology, designed capacity, grade of the work, economic-technical norms, construction standards and applied technical standards;

c/ Solutions to environmental protection, fire and explosion prevention and fight, labor safety, dyke safety and traffic safety and relevant requirements.

d/ The rationality of engineering design solutions, including:

- The rationality of floor and foundation treatment solutions to the works' geological, hydrological and hydro-geological characteristics of the locations of the work; the compatibility of structural solutions with the architectural design (for works with architectural design dossiers) and with work's utilities;

- The rationality and synchronism of the technical system-designing solution;

2. The expertising results shall be made in writing according to a set form. The approved technical drawings must be appended with the stamp of design expertise certification according to a set form

Article 11.- Competence to expertise engineering design

1. Works belonging to important national projects or group-A projects:

a/ For works of State budget-funded projects:

- The Ministry of Construction shall expertise the engineering designs of works of important national projects for which the Prime Minister has made investment decisions and works of group-A projects for which the ministers, the heads of the ministerial-level agencies or agencies attached to the Government, the provincial-level People's Committee presidents and enterprises have made investment decisions.

- Particularly for specialized construction works: irrigation, agricultural and forestrial construction works of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; road-building works of the Ministry of Communications and Transport; mine construction works, power plants, power transmission lines and transformer stations of the Ministry of Industry; post and telecommunications construction works involving mostly specialized technologies of the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications; security defense and national secret-protecting works of the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Public Security, the concerned ministries shall assume the prime responsibility for organizing the expertise of their engineering designs.

b/ For works of projects funded with the State-guaranteed credit capital or the State's development investment credits: The ministries, branches, localities and enterprises having such works shall organize by themselves the expertise of their engineering designs.

c/ For works of projects funded with the State enterprise's development investment capital, capital mobilized by the enterprises themselves or commercial credits not guaranteed by the State: The enterprises shall organize by themselves the expertise of their engineering designs.

2. Works of group-B and -C projects:

a/ For works of projects funded with the State budget capital, the State-guaranteed credit capital or the State's development investment credits:

- For works managed by the ministries, branches and central agencies: The professional agencies with the construction management function of the investment-deciding authorities shall expertise their engineering designs;

- For works under the local management: The provincial/municipal Construction Services or the Services with specialized construction works shall expertise their engineering designs (depending on the projects' nature).

- For works of projects for which the district- or commune-level People's Committees have made investment decisions according to the responsibility decentralization by the provincial-level People's Committees: The professional sections with the construction management function of the district-level People's Committees shall organize the expertise of their engineering designs.

b/ For works invested by enterprises with capital of whatever sources, the enterprises shall organize by themselves the expertise of their engineering designs.

3. The investors shall have to organize by themselves the expertise of technological designs for works with technological designs, regardless of their capital sources.

4. Persons competent to expertise engineering designs shall be accountable before law for the expertising contents specified in Clause 1, Article 10 of this Regulation.

Article 12.- Competence to approve engineering designs or construction-engineering designs

1. For construction works (regardless of their capital sources and ownership forms), the persons competent to make investment decisions shall approve or be permitted to authorize their subordinates to approve their engineering designs but shall be accountable before law for such authorization. The authorized persons shall be responsible for their decisions before law and the authorizers.

2. For works of projects for which the district- or commune-level People's Committees have made investment decisions according to the responsibility decentralization by the provincial-level People's Committees: The district-level People's Committee presidents shall approve their engineering designs.

3. The contents of decisions approving engineering designs or construction-engineering designs shall comply with Article 38, Clause 2 of the Investment and Construction Management Regulation promulgated together with the Government's Decree No. 52/1999/ND-CP of July 8, 1999. Decisions approving engineering designs shall be made according to a set form.

4. For group-A projects which are yet to have their engineering designs approved but need to commence construction, the to be-constructed items should have their construction-drawing designs approved by competent persons as well as lawful construction contracts. The approval by the competent persons should be obtained for their engineering designs when 30% of the total investment amount has been executed at the latest.

5. The persons competent to approve engineering designs shall be accountable before law for the approval contents prescribed in Article 38 of the Investment and Construction Management Regulation promulgated together with the Government's Decree No. 52/1999/ND-CP of July 8, 1999.

Article 13.- Competence to approve construction-drawing designs

1. For works subject to three-step designing, the construction-drawing designs must be approved. The competence to approve such designs is prescribed as follows:

a/ For works of investment and construction projects funded with the State budget capital, the State-guaranteed credit capital or the State's development investment credits, depending on the technical complexity of construction items, the professional capability and apparatuses of the investors, the persons competent to approve their engineering designs may authorize the investors to approve the construction-drawing designs of construction items suitable to the approved engineering designs.

b/ For works funded with capital of other sources, the investors shall be responsible for approving their construction-drawing designs.

c/ Construction-drawing designs must be appended with the investors' stamp of approval, made according to a set model.

2. Where there are changes in the construction-drawing designs of construction items as compared with the approved engineering designs, the investors must submit them to competent authorities for consideration and approval.

3. In the construction process, the investors may change the designs only after it is so permitted by the persons competent to make investment decisions. in cases where prompt action is required, the investors may change the designs and take responsibility for their decisions. The investors must then report on the results of handling the design changes to the persons competent to make investment decisions.

Chapter 3

QUALITY CONTROL OF CONSTRUCTION AND INSTALLATION

Article 14.- Supervisory work in the construction and installation process

The investors (or the project management units or the construction-supervising consulting organizations hired by the investors), designing-consulting organizations and construction enterprises must satisfy all prescribed capability conditions and have the specialized sections to systematically maintain supervisory activities throughout the construction and installation process from the time of construction commencement till the projects are completed, pre-acceptance tested and handed over according to this Regulation.

Article 15.- Quality control of the construction and installation by construction enterprises (Party B)

1. Construction enterprises must perform the following tasks:

a/ To set up a quality control system up to the requirements of the construction contracts, which includes a quality control section consisting of qualified persons as prescribed.

b/ To fully report on the process, plans and results of self-inspection of the quality of construction materials, structures and products to the investors (Party A) for inspection and supervision.

c/ To inspect construction materials, structures, products, works' equipment and technological equipment before construction of, and installation in, the works.

d/ To conduct internal pre-acceptance tests and make construction completion drawings for the completed construction and installation jobs and stages, test run of equipment, completed construction items and completed works.

e/ To prepare pre-acceptance test dossiers according to regulations and, after conducting internal pre-acceptance tests, request the investors (Party A) to test before acceptance the products of the completed construction and installation jobs and stages, test run of equipment, completed construction items and completed works.

f/ To report to Party A on the construction and installation progress, quality and volumes.

2. When performing general EPC contracts, the general EPC contractors shall have the responsibilities:

a/ To perform the tasks mentioned at Points a, b, c, d and f, Clause 1 of this Article.

b/ To prepare the pre-acceptance test dossiers according to regulations and, after conducing internal pre-acceptance tests, request Party A to test before accepting the construction and installation stages, test run of equipment, completed construction items and completed works.

Article 16.- Quality control of the construction and installation work by the investors (Party A)

In order to ensure the quality of construction works, the investors shall have to perform the following tasks:

1. At the construction preparation stage:

a/ To examine the conditions for construction commencement;

b/ To set up a quality control system up to the project's requirements. The quality supervision section must consist of qualified persons as prescribed.

c/ To examine the construction capability conditions of the construction enterprises (principal/general contractors, subcontractors);

d/ To examine, test and approve construction-drawing designs;.

2. At the construction and installation stage:

a/ To ensure that the quality control systems meet the requirements stated in the construction contracts, the quality self-inspection processes and plans of the construction enterprises;

b/ To examine the compatibility of construction equipment and manpower of the construction enterprises with the bid dossiers.

c/ To check construction materials, structures and products on the site through the manufacturers' quality certificates and the results of the tests conducted by standard conformity laboratories;

d/ To check the works' equipment and technological equipment before they are installed in the works through the quality certificates granted by the equipment manufacturers and the results of the equipment quality expertise conducted by legal entities prescribed by the State;

e/ To check the construction measures and measures to ensure labor safety at the construction sites and safety for adjacent works, which are drawn up by the construction enterprises;

f/ To check the volumes, quality and progress of on-going jobs (construction, installation), each part, each construction and installation stage, each construction item and the whole work before conducting pre-acceptance tests under Article 18 of this Regulation.

g/ To expertise construction products when necessary. The number of samples to be expertised shall not exceed 5% of the number of samples to be expertised according to the regulations of technical criteria, and shall not be less than three samples.

h/ To examine and certify the construction completion drawings for each job, each part, each stage, each construction item and each work put into use;

i/ To gather, check and submit to the agencies performing the State management over the quality of construction works (according to the responsibility decentralization in Article 3 of this Regulation) pre-acceptance test dossiers and records before conducting the pre-acceptance tests of the construction and installation stage, of the general trial operation of equipment, and the completion of construction items or works, for works stated in Clause 1, Article 8 of this Regulation. The list of pre-acceptance test dossiers and records is prescribed in Appendix 20 to this Regulation (not printed herein);

j/ To make regular and biannual reports on the quality, volumes and progress of construction and installation jobs;

k/ To assume the prime responsibility and coordinate with concerned parties in settling problems arising in the construction process;

l/ When detecting that construction equipment, manpower, construction materials, structures and products, works' equipment and technological equipment are incompatible with the construction contracts, to have the right:

- To request the construction enterprises to use construction equipment and manpower as committed in the construction and installation contracts;

- To disallow the use in the works of construction materials, structures, products and equipment which are incompatible with the quality standards, specifications, incompatible with technologies, or are not yet inspected or expertised;

- To stop the construction and make written records when Party B breaches the conditions for ensuring the works' quality, construction and installation safety and environmental sanitation;

- To decline the pre-acceptance tests of construction and installation products and stages and the test run of equipment which are of inferior quality. Reasons for the decline must be expressed in writting;

m/ Before testing for acceptance parts, items or works or entire works, if detecting signs of quality inferiority, the investors must hire quality expertise- consulting organizations to make assessment thereof as a basis for pre-acceptance tests.

3. When performing EPC contracts, the investors shall have the responsibilities:

a/ To perform the tasks specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, except for the pre-acceptance test.

b/ To decide on the schedule of pre-acceptance tests of construction and installation stages, the general trial operation of equipment and the completion of construction items and works.

4. If failing to satisfy the capability conditions, the investors may hire consulting organizations to supervise all or some of the jobs stated in this Article.

Article 17.- Authorship supervision by the consulting organizations which have made the engineering designs

In the course of construction and installation, the consulting organizations which have made engineering designs or construction-engineering designs (even when they act as subcontractors of general EPC contractors) must conduct authorship supervision, including the following tasks:

1. Explaining the project designing documents to the investors and construction and installation enterprises for management and construction in strict accordance with the designing requirements;

2. Coordinating in the settlement of problems and/or changes in the designs in the construction process;

3. Inspecting the construction and installation in terms of its compliance with the approved designs;

4. Joining in the pre-acceptance tests of the construction and installation stages, the test run of equipment and the completion of construction items and the whole work when it is so requested by the investors.

5. Implementing the irregular supervision regime, except for cases where construction structures, parts and construction items are designed according to state-of-the -art technologies and for the stage of finishing construction.

Article 18.- Pre-acceptance tests of construction works

1. The pre-acceptance tests of construction works include pre-acceptance tests of each job, each part, each stage, each item and each work put to use.

Depending on the nature and requirements of the tested objects, the investors may organize pre-acceptance test councils.

2. The jobs (construction, installation) performed by Part B must be pre-acceptance tested by Part A. The hidden parts of the works must be pre-acceptance tested and their completion drawings must be made before subsequent jobs are performed. The job pre-acceptance test records shall be made according to set forms.

3. The construction and installation stages and the installed equipment in general test run must be pre-acceptance tested before subsequent construction and installation stages are deployed. The pre-acceptance test records thereon shall be made according to set forms.

4. The completed items or works shall be put into use only after they are pre-acceptance tested. The pre-acceptance test records thereon shall be made according to set forms.

The records on the pre-acceptance test of completion of construction works shall serve as legal grounds for the investors to carry out the hand-over procedures for putting the works into exploitation or use, to settle investment capital and make asset registration according to law provisions.

5. For construction parts, items or works which require fire and explosion prevention and fight or which, when being put into exploitation or use, adversely affect the environment and operation safety, there must be the written approvals of the above requirements by the State bodies in charge of the relevant specialized technical branches when they are pre-acceptance tested and put into use.

6. When the investors or contractors are foreigners involved in the construction (designing, construction, provision of equipment, construction supervision), all pre-acceptance test records must be made in two languages (Vietnamese and a foreign language chosen by the investor).

7. The bodies having the function of State management over the construction work quality (according to the responsibility decentralization in Article 3 of this Regulation) shall guide and inspect the investors' observance of the regulations on quality control of construction works and pre-acceptance tests before the investors pre-acceptance test the construction and installation stages, the completion of each construction item and the whole works before they are put into use with regard to works of projects subject to design verification as stated in Clause 1, Article 8 of this Regulation. The inspection results must be recorded in writing according to a set form.

8. The investors shall have to submit for archival dossiers and documents on the completion of construction works according to the State's regulations on archival of dossiers and documents (see the list of dossiers and documents subject to archival in Appendix 30 to this Regulation (not printed herein)).

9. The Prime Minister shall decide to set up the State Council for Pre-Acceptance Test of Construction Works.

The State Council for Pre-Acceptance Test shall have to examine the pre-acceptance tests conducted by the investors and directly test before accepting works of group-A projects and important national projects and other works as requested by the Prime Minister. The State Council for Pre-Acceptance Test shall make records on the pre-acceptance tests of works according to a set form.

Article 19.- Bases for pre-acceptance test

The pre-acceptance test of each job, each completed construction and installation stage, construction item and work before they can be put into use must be based on the following grounds:

1. For completed construction and installation jobs:

a/ The dossier of the construction-drawing design already tested, accepted and approved by the investor.

b/ The construction survey report.

c/ The current construction standards and technical criteria of the State and the branch.

d/ The construction contract's provisions on the construction quality and volumes.

e/ The results of the tests and experiments of the quality of materials and equipment, which are conducted in the process of construction.

f/ The manufacturers' regulations or technical instructions on the preservation and use of construction materials, equipment and technologies.

g/ The drawing on the completed construction and construction work after it is tested and accepted.

2. For the completed construction and installation stages, construction items and whole works:

a/ The current construction standards and technical standards of the State and the branch.

b/ The records made by the bodies having the function of State management over the construction work quality on the examination of the dossiers of the pre-acceptance tests of the construction and installation stages, equipment in general trial operation, completion of construction items and whole works, for works of projects subject to design verification stated in Clause 1, Article 8 of this Regulation.

c/ The reports of the investors, construction enterprises, designing-consulting organizations and supervising consulting organizations on the quality of the completed construction and installation stages, the quality of equipment in general test run, the quality of completed construction items and whole works, made according to set forms.

d/ All legal dossiers and quality control documents, made according to the list prescribed in Appendix 20 to this Regulation (not printed herein).

Article 20.- Construction completion drawings

1. The construction enterprises must make construction completion drawings when testing and accepting each job, part, stage, item and work put into use.

2. Construction completion drawings must be made on the basis of construction drawings already approved by the investors. On these drawings, below design data, the corresponding data already actually achieved (sizes, axes, landmarks, construction elevations…) and/or design changes must be inscribed and certified by the drawers and drawing inspectors according to the following specific regulations:

a/ Job completion drawings must have the signatures and full names of technicians of Parties A and B.

b/ Drawings on the completed stages, items and works put to use must have the signatures, full names and stamps of the representatives of the construction enterprises and the investors.

Article 21.- Management of activities of foreign contractors participating in consultancy, expertise, supervision and quality registration

1. The foreign contractors participating in consultancy, expertise, supervision and quality registration must observe this Regulation's provisions on the quality control of construction works and the commitments made in the contracts regarding the quality of the results of the performed jobs, and concurrently be subject to the control by the State management bodies in charge of the specialized technical domains.

The results provided by the above-said foreign contractors under the contracts shall serve as bases for the investors make consideration and assessment in service of the test and acceptance of works under this Regulation.

2. The State management bodies in charge of the specialized technical fields shall have to supervise and inspect the process of consultancy, expertising, supervision and quality registration by the foreign consultants; and, when necessary, to inspect the jobs performed by foreign contractors.

Chapter 4

WARRANTY AND MAINTENANCE OF WORKS

Article 22.- Warranty of works

1. In the period of work warrant, the investor must:

a/ Inspect the use of the work, detecting damage and requesting repair;

b/ Request the construction enterprises to fulfil warranty obligations.

2. The construction enterprises shall be obliged to repair damage caused by themselves in the warranty period.

3. The construction enterprises shall not be responsible for the work warranty in the following cases:

a/ Damage caused to the construction works during the warranty period not due to their faults;

b/ Where the parts, items and/or works are dismantled under decisions of competent State bodies due to the investors' violations of the construction legislation.

Article 23.- Work maintenance

1. The work maintenance duration:

a/ The work maintenance duration is counted from the date the work is tested, accepted and put into use till the expiry of its useful life as prescribed for different grades of works.

Where a work surpasses its useful life or fails to ensure the quality requirements for continued use, there must be a document of the consulting organization on its expertise and evaluation of the work's actual conditions, serving as a basis for consideration and decision by the competent management bodies.

b/ For specialized construction works, they must also comply with the regulations of the ministries with specialized construction works regarding the work maintenance duration.

2. Grades of work maintenance:

a/ The work maintenance is stipulated with four grades: maintenance and regular repair; minor repair; medium repair; and overhaul.

b/ For the grades of maintenance repair and minor repair, the use managers or owners of the works shall have to draw up the annual maintenance plans.

c/ For the grades of medium repair and overhaul related to the safety in the operation, exploitation and use of the works, depending on the work scope, the use managers or owners of the works shall make the investment projects or investment reports according to the Investment and Construction Management Regulation promulgated together with the Government's Decree No. 52/1999/ND-CP of July 8, 1999.

3. Work maintenance responsibility:

a/ If assigned by the State the right to manage the use of works, the use managers shall have to:

- Abide by the designing-consulting organizations' technical instructions on the maintenance process when operating, exploiting and/or using the works.

- Take responsibility before law for the quality deterioration, the failure to maintain the strength-bearing capacity of construction structures, parts, items and/or works and the unsafe operation due to their failure to maintain the works as prescribed.

b/ In cases where the works are used through leasing contracts, the lessors shall have to bear responsibility before law for their failure to maintain the works as prescribed.

Chapter 5

CONSTRUCTION WORK INCIDENTS

Article 24.- The order for handling construction work incidents

1. When incidents occur to construction works, regardless of their sources of investment capital and forms of ownership, which are being built, have been completed or being in use, they shall be handled in the following order:

a/ Urgently rescuing the victims (if any);

b/ Taking prompt preventive measures to avoid any impending dangers;

c/ Protecting the scene of incidents, except for cases of urgently overcoming consequences specified at Point c, Clause 3 of this Article;

d/ Immediately reporting the incidents to competent bodies for settlement.

2. Within 24 hours after an incident occurs, the investor and/or the use managers of the work (for works which have been tested, accepted, handed over and are being exploited or used) shall have to report it to the body with the function of State management over the quality of construction works (according to the responsibility decentralization in Article 25 of this Regulation) and other responsible agencies, organizations and individuals for investigation and handling of the incident.

For incidents to any construction works involving human loss, the investors and the use managers of the works must report thereon to the Ministry of Construction.

3. Compiling dossiers on incidents:

a/ When an incident occurs to a construction work, the investor or use manager of the work ((for works which have been tested, accepted, handed over and are being exploited or used) shall compile the dossier on the incident. In cases where the extent of damage caused by the incident must be explored and evaluated, if the investors or use managers of the works are incapable to do so, they may hire a qualified construction-consulting organization with the relevant function for the job.

b/ An incident dossier comprises:

- A record on the inspection of the scene where the incident occurs;

- The results of the measuring, drawing (even filming or photographing) of the present situation of the incident, paying attention to important strength-bearing parts and structural details, cracks, breaks, settlement, collapse, and other details necessary for investigation; results of the testing of specimen to determine the quality of materials, structures of construction works hit by the incident in order to analyze and identify the cause of the incident;

- Other documents on the work such as design changes and/or supplements; disparities between the construction and the approved design; load phenomena or use of the work at variance with the design; breaches of the regulations on the operation and/or use process; failure to maintain the work as prescribed;

- Description of the incident development, analysis and identification of the cause of the incident.

c/ Clearing up the incident scene:

- After getting adequate dossiers in service of the investigation, analysis and identification of the causes of the incidents to construction works, the incident-handling agencies shall permit the construction enterprises, users or investors to clear up the incident scenes.

- Quickly dismantling or clearing up the incident scenes while rescuing victims, dykes, dams, bridges, sluices, opening up bridges or roads or preventing further incidents. Before the dismantlement or clearance, the construction enterprises, the users or the investors shall have to photograph, film or videotape, gather information and records as much as possible according to the requirements defined in this Article.

d/ Overcoming incidents:

- The repair or reconstruction of works hit by incidents must ensure that the causes of incidents identified in the incident-handling records must be thoroughly overcome.

- The incident-overcoming expenses shall be borne by the units or individuals that have caused the incidents.

- Where an incident is caused by force majeure circumstances, the investor or insurers (for insured works) shall bear the expenses for overcoming the incident.

Article 25.- Decentralization of responsibility for handling construction work incidents

1. For construction works of group-A investment projects: The Ministry of Construction shall assume the prime responsibility for the settlement, which is also joined by the provincial/municipal Construction Services or the Services with specialized construction works (for specialized construction works) of the localities where the construction works are located, the ministries having such projects or the ministries with specialized construction works (for specialized construction works) and other relevant functional State management bodies.

2. For construction works of group-B or -C investment projects: The provincial/municipal Construction Services shall assume the prime responsibility for the settlement, which is joined by the Services having such projects or the Services with specialized construction works (for specialized construction works) and other relevant functional State management bodies in the localities.

3. For construction works being dwelling houses of families or individuals: The functional construction management agencies (the Construction Sections) of the district People’s Committees shall assume the prime responsibility for the settlement. In case of necessity, the agencies with the prime responsibility for the settlement of incidents may invite representatives of the provincial/municipal Construction Services and specialists for their advice.

The responsible agencies mentioned in Clauses 2 and 3 of this Article shall have to report the incident settlement results to the Ministry of Construction.

Chapter 6

INSPECTION AND HANDLING OF VIOLATIONS REGARDING QUALITY CONTROL OF CONSTRUCTION WORKS

Article 26.- Inspection of quality control of construction works

The inspection by the bodies having the function of State management over the quality of construction works and by the direct management agencies of the investors aims to ensure the quality of construction works, promptly work out measures to prevent, overcome and preclude acts of violation regarding the quality of construction works. The inspection must be carried out regularly or irregularly throughout the process of constructing and using the construction works.

Article 27.- Handling of violations regarding the quality control of construction works

Organizations and individuals committing violations regarding the quality control of construction works prescribed in this Regulation shall, depending on the nature and seriousness of their violations, be administratively sanctioned or examined for penal liability and, if causing damage, have to pay compensation therefor according to law provisions.

Chapter 7

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 28.- This Regulation takes effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette. All other regulations contrary to this Regulation shall be hereby annulled.

Article 29.- The ministers, the heads of the ministerial-level agencies, the agencies attached to the Government, the financial management agencies of the Party Central Committee as well as the central bodies of political and socio-political organizations, the presidents of the People's Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities, concerned enterprises, investors, organizations and individuals shall have to implement this Regulation.

Minister of Construction
NGUYEN HONG QUAN